No Ganga in south

Environment & Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh always comes prepared for his press conferences. But last week, at a press conference on Ganga basin management, he admitted he did not have a name for the IITs involved in this work. “Had there been nine IITs, I would have named them navaratnas. But there are seven IITs,” he said. A journalist suggested, “Why don’t you name them saptarishi (seven saints)?” Ramesh promptly agreed to the suggestion. But soon, another journalist felt the heat of the minister’s ways. When a journalist from Tamil Nadu wanted to ask a question, Ramesh stopped him and said: “The Ganga doesn’t flow in Tamil Nadu. So, you keep quiet.”